mattpryor

I posted parts one and two in a previous blog, so here is part 3. It contains some interesting revelations (for me, at least) about Hamas's funding and support base, and Iran's strategic involvement in Gaza's affairs.

This is an op-ed written by Irwin Cotler, a Canadian MP and board member of the NGO "UN Watch", which appeared in The Australian. This is something which should concern anyone interested in the UN's human rights watchdog and how it is being exploited for political reasons by the world's worst violators. Although it was written for an Australian audience there are many points here that the British government would do well to consider as well.

A bit of background for those who don't know - Mosab Hassan Yousef was the son of one of the founders of Hamas and worked as an undercover operative for Shin Bet for many years. He converted to Christianity and eventually got out of the region, wrote a book documenting his experiences called Son of Hamas - highly recommended reading. He also maintains a blog which gives a unique and fascinating perspective into the situation in Gaza and the conflict. He recently applied for, and was granted, political asylum in the US.

Islamist demonstrators (headed by the odious Anjem Choudary) shouted "Pope Benedict, you will pay, Islam is on its way", "Sharia is on its way", "Justice is on its way" (a lot is coming our way, it seems) and threatened that Sharia would be "declared" against all who insult Mohammed. They shouted to the Pope, "Watch your back," swore that he will "burn in hell" and claimed that he "deserves the death penalty."

First of all, in spite of what some people have said, I don't think the JC moderators are biased in favour of anti-Israel sentiments. I think they try very hard to appear balanced and impartial, but in doing so are in danger of giving the impression of favouring one side of the debate over the other due to inconsistently applying rules.

However, there does appear to be a few problems and I wanted to start a constructive "suggestions" thread.

Banning users

As the 10-month deadline approaches there is talk of Prime Minister Netanyahu agreeing to a continuation of the moratorium on building projects beyond the 1947 armistice lines, in exchange for the US release of Stephen Pollard.

Sometimes (actually most days) I read a newspaper article online that just gets up my nose, without at first knowing why. Usually it has to do with Israel. Today was no exception when, during my daily perusal of the Times website, I came across an article by an Egypt-based journalist, Ashraf Khalil, entitled "Upbeat Hillary Clinton tries to life gloom hanging over the peace talks".

My other half and I watched this on tele the other night. I usually have to brace myself for something unpleasant when comedians start talking about the Arab-Israel conflict, but I found this funny and touching. See what you think.

I watched this programme on BBC One last night in which Jonathan Sacks took part in a series of one-to-one debates with some of his leading critics including Howard Jacobson and Alain de Botton. Highly recommended in case you missed it.

A bit of a diversion from the the usual bickering about Middle East politics (should give cleveson and telegramsam's keyboards a bit of a rest)...

There's a great piece here by the Chief Rabbi in response to Hawking's claim that God did not create the universe. It's on the Times so if you want to read it it'll cost you a quid... I should ask for commission.

I'm becoming increasingly alarmed by the rhetoric in comments on the Times website these days, particularly whenever a story mentions Israel or Iran and the same people keep posting the same rubbish again and again.

Some examples - all in response to one story regarding the recent activation of the nuclear plant at Bushehr:

Like many people I can't help but notice how in the media these days Israeli "settlers" tend to be portrayed as troublemakers, bigots and the principle "obstacle to peace" (is anyone else sick and tired of hearing that phrase?) and was thinking only a month or so ago how refreshing it would be to see the human side of the settler story. To the BBC's credit they did touch on the subject a while ago with their article on the "hilltop youth" and this gave a slightly different, or at least human perspective.